Sarah Becker, a former cast member of the MTV reality show The Real World, has died from suicide. She was only 52.
Family members said Becker died in Illinois, where she moved to care for her ailing mother and sister. She had plans to return to her native California, but her mental health took a downturn, her family said. She also had a skateboarding accident which added to her woes.
Becker was 25 when she appeared in Real World: Miami in 1996. Described as the "tomboy" of the cast, Becker enjoyed skateboarding and was working for WildStorm Comics in La Jolla, California at the time.
"A tomboy, Sarah says she doesn't deal well with pettiness and wants to stay true to herself while on the show," her bio read.
The Real World ran from 1992 to 2017, making it one of the longest-running reality shows in history. Each season takes place in a different city and follows a group of young strangers living together.
MTV viewers may recall Becker bringing a puppy back to the house where the cast lived together.
When the season ended, Becker told Chicago Tribune that she didn't have any interest in being a celebrity. She applied to be on the show "for kicks" but ended up having "a blast. And I learned that I’m pretty happy about who I am. "The comic book editor said she wanted to be appreciated for her merits and "not for being a face on a T-shirt."
“For me, `The Real World’ was a six-month long vacation,” she said. “I knew from the get-go that it couldn’t be a steppingstone to bigger and better things."
“I want my own magazine some day, and I don’t think Sarah from `The Real World’ is going to have anything to do with that.”
Becker's friend Jeff Mariotte, former WildStorm Vice President of Marketing, shared a touching tribute on Facebook. "'I'm so terribly sorry that Sarah's gone," he wrote. "She added sunshine to every room she entered, the fans loved her, and so did we all. Fair winds, Sarah. We'll miss you."
Becker's former Real World castmate Flora Alekseyeun called Becker "the most selfless person I knew."
"She was always kind and helpful to everyone. I haven’t spoken to her in years and never knew she was troubled," she wrote on Instagram.
"My prayers go out to her family. RIP my roomate, my friend. May you skate with angels and never feel pain again."
Such a tragedy. RIP.
